Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"Maybe the only thing we can hope for is to end our lives with the proper regrets."

                                       Arthur Miller

I guess we all have read that Conan O'Brien sucked as the host of "The Tonight Show" on NBC after he replaced Jay Leno. The rating for the show fell like a big tree and in that business ratings is all that counts. They use ratings to sell advertising time, bad rating mean cheaper advertising dollars. Even Jay Leno tried a one hour prime time show that sucked and it ended up with bad ratings. NBC asked O'Brien what would it take for him to give up his contract being the host of "The Tonight Show." The agreed upon number was $43 million and Jay Leno and his staff of about 130 will take over "The Tonight Show" once again. You have to admire Leno. When he agreed to take the show over once again, the first thing he asked was could he keep his old staff because he wanted them to keep working. This stipulation was agreed upon. All bosses should have the same attitude.

A couple of days ago in a small village north of Hendersonville, North Carolina the cops raided a house in a small housing development. What they found shocked them all. The house was being used to raise marijuana that had been genetically altered which made the grass twice as potent as field grown. This meant that the grass had a street value much higher that normal. They estimated that the few bags they recovered had a street value of about $900,000.

Wednesday afternoon a 26 year old male attempted to get in the office of state senator Dan Patrick located in the state capitol in Austin, Texas. He did not want to talk with Patrick he wanted to chat wth a woman that worked for Patrick. His request was denied and he went out on the capitol's south steps and pulled out a handgun and began firing. After five or six rounds he was subdued by state troopers and a couple of Texas Rangers. He is now cooling his heels in the Travis County jail. There are a few questions. How did he get to the Senator Patrick's office on the third floor of the capitol with a hog-leg in his waistband undetected? Why was the other workers in the capitol not warned that there was a gunman loose in the building? Finally, how is it possible that that man got off more than one shot with being capped by the troopers in the area?

This is a statement:

I was recently admonished because I have not attacked the President, reported on drug/gang activity, murder, Hugo Chavez, etc. This is not one of those rags you see at the grocery store check out counter. It is essentially a HISTORY report with a few personal comments on the side. I try to keep the reports local or something not normally seen. If there those of you that are looking for other than that then you should seek another venue. This is not the New York Times not the National Inquirer, again it is basically a HISTORY LESSON plus, and it will not change. Besides that, it is free.

This date in history January 23

1865    On this date CSA General John Bell Hood is relieved of command of the CSA Army of Tennessee thus ending a sad chapter in the history of the United States. Hood had requested to be relieved a couple of weeks earlier. John Bell Hood was born in Kentucky and graduated from West Point in 1853. As with most of his class, he served in the western theatre until hostilities broke out at the start of the Civil War. Hood resigned his commission and offered his services to the famous Texas 4th Infantry. His regiment was sent to serve with CSA General Robert E. Lee and the equally famous Army of Northern Virginia. Hood served with distinction in the Peninsular Campaign and especially in the Battle of the Seven Days in 1862. Hood aggressive nature did not go unnoticed and he was eventually given command of a division. There is little question that his aggressive counter-attack at the Battle of Antietam saved General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia from total annihilation. His next major assignment came at the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg in June of 1863 when he was ordered to attack the left flank of the Union lines on a hill known as Little Round Top. He had under his command was the 4th and 5th Texas, the 5th Alabama and a number of other regiments totaling about 2,500 men. He was attacking the 20th Maine numbering about 300. At the onset of the battle Hood was severely wounded and lost the use of an arm as a result. Hood’s troops were not successful in turning the flank of the Union army on Little Round Top only because of the stubbornness of the 20th Maine and the resolve of their commander Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain. Hood spent quite a bit of time recuperating from this severe wound. Hood resumed his duties with the CSA Army of Tennessee and fought at the bloody Battle of Chickamauga where he was again severely wounded which resulted in the loss of a leg. When US General William T. Sherman began his attack across the state of Georgia beginning near Chattanooga, Tennessee and aimed at Atlanta and the port of Savannah, CSA General Joseph Johnston was in command of the CSA Army of Tennessee. Johnston knew he was out manned and outgunned and chose to use defensive strategy by digging in, fight and retreat. The closer Sherman got to Atlanta, the more nervous CSA President Jefferson Davis became. Finally Davis decided that the CSA needed a more aggressive commander of the Army of Tennessee and relieved Johnston and named Hood as his replacement. Hood assumed command and immediately struck hard at Sherman’s army in three different futile and costly attacks in and around Atlanta. Eventually Hood pulled his army out of Atlanta, moved west and headed north back toward Chattanooga hoping that Sherman would follow to protect his supply line but it didn’t happen that way. Hood finally moved the Army of Tennessee within striking distance of Sherman’s vital supply line near Nashville, Tennessee. Another Union army was dug-in and waiting but Hood flung what was left of his army at the Union fortifications in two unsuccessful and even more costly attacks. At the end of these two battles the CSA Army of Tennessee ceased to exist as a viable fighting force. When Hood took command in July of 1864, the CSA Army of Tennessee had 64,000 troops, when he was relieved on this day there were 18,000. War is hell.

1968    The United States intelligence gathering vessel USS Pueblo is on patrol 16 miles off the coast of North Korea when a North Korean gunboat pulls along side the Pueblo and orders it to stop. The commander of the lightly armed Pueblo, Captain Lloyd Bucher, tries to run away but the gunship opens fire killing a crewman and wounding Bucher. Bucher surrenders and the ship is ordered to the North Korean port of Wonsan. The crew of 84 is taken off the ship and sent to the capitol of Pyongyang where they are imprisoned. US President Lyndon Johnson demands the release of the crewman stating that the ship was in international waters when attacked and captured. The North Koreans refused stating that the ship was well within the North Korean limit of 12 miles. Johnson had a much larger problem in the small Oriental country of Vietnam and did not want to risk having to fight another military engagement so he decided to let our guys rot in that North Korean prison and try to resolve the problem diplomatically. The North Koreans wanted Captain Bucher and the crew to make a public statement avowing that they were indeed intentionally spying in North Korean waters and were deeply sorry for this breach in the sovereignty of North Korea. When interviewed the American sailors made sarcastic remarks and stuck up their middle finger, a gesture the North Koreans did not understand. Finally the North Koreans caught on and beat those guys for a week and threatened further torture if their demands were not met. Not only that, they demanded that the US State Department to issue a similar statement. The US government finally conceded and issued a public apology and the crew was released. It would not do for me to be in a position of power when that sort of atrocity is made on our guys by those vermin in North Korea. I can assure you that part of the Orient would glow in the dark to this day.

1870    This is another incidence of the American cavalry out of control. Earlier a Montana cattle rancher named Malcolm Clarke had accused a Blackfoot sub-chief name Owl Child of stealing his horses and had savagely whipped him in public. As you might expect, Owl Child returned with a group of his closest friends and capped Clarke and his son in the most horrible of fashions and then fled north to join up with a group of rebel warriors led by another Blackfoot named Mountain Chief. The public outcry became so loud that the military Indian agent in that area notified Colonel Eugene Baker to gather up some troops and cavalrymen and seek out Owl Child and bring him in. The only problem here is that Colonel Baker is heavy into the sauce and stays in the bag most of the time. Anyway, the force led by Baker sets out looking for Owl Child. Finally, some of Baker’s Indian scouts find an Indian encampment. They return and tell Baker what they had found but they could tell by the markings on the teepees that they were not of the tribe that Owl Child belonged to, that they were a peaceful group of Blackfeet. Baker absorbs this information along with another quart of whiskey and at dusk he says “I don’t care, they are still Indians” and orders his troops to surround the village and open fire and burn anything combustible including their meager food supply. The troopers surround the encampment and did indeed open fire and burned all that would burn. The Indians have no idea what the hell is going on and are massacred. The total killed was 39 men, 60 women and 55 children. Baker allows the capture of a few of them but when he finds out that some of them have smallpox, a gift from the damned Europeans, and orders them released out onto the prairie in a Montana winter with no food. When word of this atrocity reaches the east there is a loud outcry and demands are made to correct this situation. President Ulysses Grant orders that all Indian agents must be civilians from now on. But the troopers and Colonel Baker were never brought to justice. No wonder Crazy Horse, Dull Knife, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and the others were so vicious and cruel in their retribution. What goes around…......

1556    In the middle of the afternoon the ground around the Chinese city of Shannxi begins to heave and shake. It is the beginning of the most deadly earthquake in recorded history. The city is a conglomeration of small shacks and huts that are heated by charcoal braziers that also serve as a stove. The aftershocks continue until the following morning triggering huge crevasses that open and close crushing thousands of people along with miles long landslides not to mention the fires. After all was said and done there were an estimated 830,000 deaths. I am going to repeat this: 830,000 deaths. The second largest disaster in history was the tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean. There were only 240,000 deaths there. Repeat: 240,000 deaths.

Born today:

1737    US Super Patriot John Hancock. He said “A chip on the shoulder is too much baggage to carry around all of your life.” I know what will cure that infliction...age or a severe ass-kicking.

Died today:

1875    English clergyman Charles Kingsley. He said “Young blood must have its course, lad, and every dog its day.” I had often wondered where that adage came from.

1893    US clergyman Phillips Brooks. He said “Be such a man and live such a life, that if every man were such as you, and lived a life such as your, the earth would be a paradise.” Phillips, you failed to mention women...Paradise Lost.

1931    Russian dancer Anna Pavlova. When on her death bed and seconds from dying she said “Get my swan costume ready.” A professional to the end.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow